A Hogwarts Tale
by The Blue Heron
Summary: When Elisabeth Pierce's parents died in a car accident, her Aunt Em moved back from England to become her guardian. Now, some years later, Em is returning to England, and she's taking Beth with her. Soon, Beth finds out that she is a witch and begins her adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. A Strange Visitor & an Unexpected Letter

Beth looked down at her half-eaten plate of spaghetti and tried to hold back her tears. She could feel Auntie Em's eyes on her as she watched her across the dinner table, gauging her reaction to the news. She twirled her fork in her noodles and wished that Auntie Em would stop rapidly bouncing her leg as she always did when she was nervous or excited.

"I know this would be a huge change," Auntie Em began, but Beth's tears began to spill down her cheeks, and she set her fork onto her plate with a clatter and bolted from the table.

"Beth!" Auntie Em called after her, rising from her own chair.

Beth ran up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Once inside, she leapt onto her unmade bed and slid under the blankets. Once the comforter was safely pulled over her head, she sobbed silently, hoping her aunt wouldn't hear her on the other side of the door.

Auntie Em's soft footsteps came closer as she walked up the stairs and stopped in front of Beth's door on the landing. She knocked hesitantly, but Beth only burrowed deeper under the covers. She felt a fuzzy lump next to her, reached out to grab it, and clutched the stuffed Eeyore to her chest.

"Beth, please come out," her aunt pleaded.

"Go away!" she shouted, her voice muffled by the blankets and a fresh onset of sobs.

She heard Auntie Em sigh, followed by the sound of her footsteps fading away from her door and down the stairs. This only made Beth feel more abandoned, and she sobbed until she had no tears left. Exhausted, she had almost drifted into a restless sleep when she heard the front door open and the low murmur of Auntie Em's voice downstairs. She crawled out from under her covers and sat up straight, straining her ears to hear more. Auntie Em thanked someone, the front door closed again, and all was silent. Beth swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood quietly, still clutching Eeyore to her side. Suddenly she felt childish and set him back on her bed before walking carefully to the door and turning the knob slowly so as not to make any noise. Beth cracked the door open and, when she saw that the coast was clear, she slipped outside and crept to the top of the landing.

Auntie Em sat in the recliner in the living room, her head in her hands. As Beth watched, she sighed and stood, then sat again and reached for the telephone on the coffee table in front of her. She cradled it between her shoulder and her ear as she dialed, twirling the cord with her fingers.

"Hey, Maggie," she said, her voice tired. "Can you talk right now?" She paused, and Beth sat on the top stair and slid down two more, wondering how close she could get before her aunt realized that she was there.

"Yeah, I told her," Auntie Em continued. "I'm not sure I made the right decision," she said, pressing the palm of her free hand against her forehead and continuing to wind and unwind the cord around her index finger. "I…" She stopped, and Beth froze, having just ventured down two more stairs. Her aunt turned and saw her, now almost halfway down the staircase, and spoke quickly into the telephone. "Maggie, I'm sorry, I'll have to call you back." She hung up and un-twirled her finger from the cord.

"Hey, Beth," she said, and Beth sat still, not sure whether to race back to her room or to face her aunt. "Want some hot chocolate? I want some hot chocolate," Auntie Em said, and she got up from her chair and went to the kitchen. "I know hot chocolate won't _actually_ make it better," she called as though sensing Beth's thoughts, "but I need some right now, and I'll bet you do, too." Beth heard the refrigerator open and shut, a spoon clank as Auntie Em stirred the chocolate mix into the milk, and the microwave buzz for about a minute before her aunt emerged from the kitchen with two steaming mugs.

"Here," she said, and, seeing that Beth had not moved from her position, climbed the stairs to sit next to her before handing her the drink in her favorite mug.

Beth took it by the handle and sipped. She tasted peppermint, just as she liked it, and she mustered a watery smile. Auntie Em put an arm around her shoulders comfortingly, and Beth leaned against her chest.

"I don't want to move to England," she said, her voice muffled.

"I know," Auntie Em sighed as she stroked her hair. "I know."

* * *

"Isn't this great? Oh, I've missed this!" Auntie Em exclaimed excitedly as she opened the door to their new apartment, or "flat," as Auntie Em said the British called it. Beth yawned as she dragged her suitcase behind her, and Auntie Em flitted from room to room. "This one's yours!" she called from around the corner, and Beth followed her voice to a small, nearly empty bedroom. "It'll feel just like home as soon as we get all your things in here," she said in response to Beth's hesitant expression.

She sat down on her suitcase and looked around the room as Auntie Em continued to buzz around the flat. There was a window above the bed that lay against one wall, and a tall wardrobe rested against the wall to the right.

"I wish my wardrobe was a magic door," Beth thought, and impulsively she hopped up and ran to open it, just in case, but the wardrobe was empty, and the back was not a door, as she had hoped. Disappointed, and feeling somewhat silly for being disappointed, she jumped onto the bed and stared out the window, resting her chin on the windowsill. She wished she could see her old neighborhood outside instead of the foreign one that was in front of her. She hugged her Eeyore to her chest, but he only made her feel more homesick, and she set him on the windowsill next to her. As she looked out the window, she saw a plump figure dressed entirely in mustard yellow and wearing an oddly pointed hat over her curly gray hair walking down the street past her window. Curious, she craned her neck to see as far as she could out of her window, but the woman had disappeared from view. Moments later, someone knocked on the door, and Beth ran to see if it was the woman whom she had seen from her window.

She opened the door breathlessly, and the woman beamed at her.

"Why, hello, dear! Are you Elisabeth Pierce?" she asked.

Beth nodded, her eyes wide.

"Oh, good! I have something for you," she said, and she reached into the billowy sleeve of her dress and retrieved an envelope. "Have you heard of Hogwarts, my dear?" she asked kindly as she handed the letter to Beth.

Beth shook her head. "Hogwarts" sounded strange even for England, but she was excited that someone had sent her a letter before she had even been there for a whole day. She tore the envelope eagerly and opened the folded piece of paper inside. It read as follows:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc. Chf. Warlock,_

 _Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Miss Pierce,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted

at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of

all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1.

We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

 _Deputy Headmistress_

"I can go to a magic school?" she asked excitedly once she had read it.

"Can and should!" the woman answered.

"Beth, who are you talking to?" Auntie Em asked as she rounded the corner. "Professor Sprout!" she exclaimed, and much to Beth's confusion, she rushed to the strange woman, and the two embraced. "Come in, come in!" She ushered Professor Sprout inside. "I'd offer you a cup of tea, but as you can see, we haven't quite settled in yet."

"Quite all right," Professor Sprout said. "I was just telling young Elisabeth here about Hogwarts," she continued, once again smiling at Beth kindly.

"Hogwarts? Beth? Oh my god!" Auntie Em exclaimed. Comprehension dawned as she looked back and forth between Professor Sprout and the letter that Beth held in her hand, and she rushed to Beth and hugged her.

"Does...does that mean I can go? Beth said cautiously when Auntie Em released her. She had been preparing to shout or pout her way to permission, and had not at all expected an instantaneous "yes."

"Of course you can go! Your Uncle Eddie was a wizard. He went to Hogwarts, too. But Pomona, I didn't think...we just moved here...how…?" She turned back to Professor Sprout.

"She was on the list for Ilvermorny when we got the news that you were coming back to England and bringing her with you," Professor Sprout answered.

"Oh, Beth, I'm so happy for you!" Auntie Em hugged her again, but Beth wiggled her way out of the embrace.

"I didn't know Uncle Eddie was a wizard! Tell me about Hogwarts! And what's Ilvermorny?" she asked excitedly.

"Ilvermorny is the American version of Hogwarts, and Hogwarts is one of the top wizarding schools in the world," Professor Sprout said. "There you will take classes like Charms, Potions, Herbology (my personal favorite), Transfiguration, and many more. You will learn to fly on a broom, if you wish, and once you turn seventeen you will be able to Apparate. In short, you will learn the ways of magic and the magical world, and you will become an excellent witch someday," she finished.

"But what does…" Beth began hesitantly, feeling silly for not understanding what most of those things meant, but Auntie Em caught her eye and mouthed, "I'll explain everything," so she nodded.

Professor Sprout continued. "Soon, you should go to Diagon Alley and purchase your school supplies. There should be a list in there," she said, pointing to the envelope that Beth had dropped to the floor in her excitement, and Beth picked it up and took out a piece of paper that she had noticed in her initial hurry to see the letter. "You'll have a new list of books to buy every year, but you'll only have to get your wand once, assuming nothing happens to it, and...well, you'll have to ask your aunt about your owl." She and Beth both looked to Auntie Em, who laughed.

"We'll deal with that when we get to Diagon Alley," she said.

"Well, then, I think I'll let your aunt explain the rest. And I trust Eddie showed you the way to Diagon Alley?" Professor Sprout asked, and Auntie Em nodded.

"If we have any trouble, I'll let you know," she said. "Do you have many more kids to visit today?"

Professor Sprout nodded. "I _had_ to see you the moment I knew your niece had been accepted and that she was on my list of Muggleborns to visit," she said, "but I had best be off. Goodbye, Em, it was so good to see you!"

"You too!" Auntie Em said, embracing her quickly once more.

Professor Sprout smiled, and with that, she bustled out the door, looked around to make sure that no one was watching, spun on her heel, and vanished with a crack.

"And that, Beth, is how you Apparate. I so wish I could do that," Auntie Em sighed.

"What's Diagon Alley? I get a wand? And an owl? And what were those classes? Did you go to Hogwarts, too?" Beth asked. Her excitement had not stopped growing since she had heard the word "magic," and everything that Professor Sprout had said had only prompted a flurry of more questions in her mind.

Auntie Em laughed. "Yes, you get a wand, and _maybe_ an owl. Our landlord might frown upon that. Diagon Alley is where you'll get both those things, along with your books. No, I didn't go to Hogwarts, but your Uncle Eddie told me all about it. As far as I understand, those classes…"

They spent the rest of the day unpacking as much as they could, with Beth asking questions and Auntie Em answering them as best she could. Beth went to bed that night exhausted but happy, and she stared at the ceiling for a long time before going to sleep.

"I'm going to Hogwarts. I'm going to learn magic," she thought happily, hugging her Eeyore to her. Maybe moving wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

 ***Note: I've tried and tried, but no matter what I do, the formatting is all wonky. Apologies!**


	2. Diagon Alley

Beth had never seen anything like Diagon Alley before. She followed Auntie Em, wide-eyed, as they made their way down the street. Beth kept tripping over her feet as she looked around, taking in the sight of the many wizard shops that lined the street instead of paying attention to where she was walking. Disgruntled replies of "Hey! Watch it there!" fell on deaf ears as she bumped into other young witches and wizards as they too made their way down the cobbled streets. Beth tried not to stare, but many of them were so oddly dressed that it was hard not to. She thought she could tell the wizarding families from "Muggleborns" like herself, a term that she had heard tossed around soon after they had arrived, and which Auntie Em had explained referred to a witch or wizard who did not come from a family of wizards. Surrounded by brightly colored yet strangely matched clothes which were often accompanied by a cape, Beth felt out of place in her jeans and favorite yellow sweatshirt that she had so carefully picked out that morning.

Finally, Auntie Em pulled her over to the side and out of the way. "I wish we had a map," she said. "Not that we're lost," she added quickly, seeing Beth's suddenly worried expression, "but it always helps to be able to see where everything is. Now, let's look at that list of yours. What should we get first? Beth! Come on, show me the list." She patted Beth's arm to get her attention.

Finally looking away from all the strange people, Beth pulled the list out of her pocket where she had stuffed it for safe-keeping and unwrinkled it before handing it to her aunt. "Let's go get my wand!" she said excitedly as Auntie Em read the list of materials.

"We passed Ollivanders back that way, I think," Auntie Em said, turning back in the direction that they had come from. "Hopefully the robes shop is over there, too, and the bookstore."

Beth wrinkled her nose at the thought of having to wear robes as she ran to catch up to Auntie Em's fast-paced stride. Soon they reached Ollivanders, much to Auntie Em's relief and Beth's delight. Despite her eagerness, she hung back as they approached the shop, and Auntie Em paused at the door when she realized that Beth was no longer directly behind her. She retraced her steps, knelt in front of Beth, and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Are you nervous?" she asked, and Beth nodded. "Well, don't be," she said cheerfully. "The perfect wand is in there waiting for you."

"You said the wand chooses the witch," Beth said, looking down at her shoes. "What if none of them choose me?"

"Not a chance," Auntie Em said.

There was not even a hint of doubt in her voice, which Beth found reassuring. She smiled, and Auntie Em smiled in return. This time Beth led the way to the door of the shop, and the two slipped inside quietly.

A bell on the door rang to indicate their presence, but the occupants of the shop paid them no mind. Auntie Em put a finger to her lips and ushered Beth to a dimly lit corner to wait. As Beth watched, the older man, whose pale eyes stood out in the darkened shop, handed a wand to the young, dark-haired boy, who looked the same age as Beth. A tall, very large man holding a pink umbrella stood off to the side. Beth couldn't help but notice the pile of discarded wands next to the boy, whose face betrayed none of the anxiety that she herself felt. As she watched, the boy swished the wand, and golden red sparks flowed from the tip. The giant man yelled with delight, and the boy grinned and pushed his glasses further up on his nose. The older wizard looked even more triumphant.

*"Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well...how curious...how very curious…" he said as he found a box for the wand, placed the wand in gently, and wrapped it.

*"Sorry, but what's curious?" the boy asked, and Beth strained to listen.

*"It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other...why, its brother gave you that scar," the man, who Beth realized must be Mr. Ollivander, answered.

He continued to speak, but he lowered his voice conspiratorially, and Beth was disappointed that she could not hear the rest of what he said. The boy, however, looked a little unsettled by his words, and he and the tall man left the shop quickly without a glance at Beth or Auntie Em. Mr. Ollivander went back to his chair surrounded by boxes upon boxes of wands, and with a flick of his own, he set the pile of wands that the boy had left behind back into their own boxes, which then floated into a neat stack.

Auntie Em nudged Beth forward, and hesitantly she approached Mr. Ollivander, who sat with his wand on his knees and his fingers pressed together in a point in front of his nose. His pale eyes stared thoughtfully into nothingness, and he didn't move as Beth approached.

"Ex-excuse me," she said apprehensively, and he started.

"Well, well, another one already! And what is your name?" he asked as he stood.

"Elisabeth," she said quietly, clasping her hands behind her back.

"What was that? Speak up! No need to be shy," he said in his raspy voice.

She cleared her throat and tried to stand up straighter. "Elisabeth," she said only slightly more loudly.

"Ah, American. I don't see that very often. All right, Elisabeth, are you right handed or left handed?" Mr. Ollivander asked, and she was glad that she wouldn't have to repeat her name again, although his note of her accent made her somewhat self-conscious.

"Right," she answered, and a moment later, a length of measuring tape floated up to measure her arms, legs, and for some reason, also her head. Mr. Ollivander, meanwhile, seemed to be taking stock of his now rearranged inventory.

"The most important thing to know," he said with his back turned as he stood on a magically suspended ladder, "is that the wand chooses the wizard, or witch, in your case, and that while you can _technically_ use another's wand, it will not work so well as the one that chose you. Each wand is unique, and each has a core of unicorn hair, phoenix tail feather, or dragon heartstring. Let's see which one yours will be, shall we?"

With that, Mr. Ollivander descended from the ladder with a variety of boxes in his arms and made his way back to Beth. He deposited all but one on a table that Beth had not even noticed before, as it was already covered in wands, and she hoped that they were not all options for her. With slight trepidation, she took the wand that he offered her and waved it slightly. Nothing happened.

"Good, good, you know what to do. But no, not that one. Nice one, it was, too. Maple, phoenix feather, 9 inches. Have another. Fir, dragon heartstring, 13 inches." Quickly he took the first from her and shoved another into her hand.

She knew from the moment that she took it that this one would not be right. It felt ungainly in her hand, and he grabbed it even as she began to wave it.

"No, no, try this one," he said, and he watched her intently.

Nervously, she waved the wand. It felt light, but not too light, and unlike the other, it did not feel too long. As she swished it, she was surprised to see not sparks, but cartoon-like flowers of light flow from the end. She looked first at Auntie Em, who was watching from the corner and who nodded encouragingly, and then to Mr. Ollivander for confirmation. He looked pleased.

"This one is cedar, with a unicorn hair core. 10 inches," he said. He took it from her gently and placed it in its box. As he wrapped the box, Auntie Em emerged from the corner.

"How much for the wand, Mr. Ollivander?" she asked respectfully.

He looked up with a start. "Emily Tanner," he said. "I did not think I would see you here again." He looked at her pointedly, and Beth watched curiously as Auntie Em looked somewhat sheepish.

"Me neither, yet here I am," she said with a shrug and a slight laugh. "I guess you don't forget faces any more than you forget wands."

"Or names," he said, and suddenly his brow furrowed. "I was very sorry to hear about Eddie, you know. Oak, dragon heartstring, 12 inches. He was a good wizard, if a young scallywag."

"He was a good man, and also a rascal," Auntie Em agreed with a lopsided smile, her voice thicker than usual.

Beth looked back and forth between her aunt and Mr. Ollivander and suddenly wondered how her uncle Eddie had died, and whether his death had to do with the wizarding world rather than the normal one. After a moment in which Mr. Ollivander looked at Auntie Em with a look of sympathetic understanding that did not suit his odd face, and in which Auntie Em's eyes filled briefly with tears before she blinked rapidly and composed herself, Mr. Ollivander spoke gruffly.

"That will be 7 galleons for the wand," he said, and he handed the box to Beth.

Auntie Em reached into her purse and drew out the coins. She counted them into her own hand twice before dropping them into his. He bowed his head slightly, and she nodded in return.

"Ready, Beth?" Auntie Em asked, and Beth nodded.

"Thanks, Mr. Ollivander!" she called as they left the shop, no longer as intimidated by the odd man as she had been when they entered. She wondered what he could have said to the boy to have made him so uncomfortable.

"I wish I'd known Uncle Eddie," she said timidly once they were back on the street. She glanced quickly up at her aunt, but Auntie Em's expression didn't change. Instead, she strode ahead determinedly, and Beth ran to catch up. She wondered where they were going next.

"Me, too," Auntie Em answered after a short pause. "You would have liked him," she added. She realized that Beth was struggling to keep up, and she slowed her pace.

"There was a war in the wizarding world," she continued after a moment's hesitation. "Eddie fought in it."

She took a deep breath, and Beth waited silently, hoping for more details. "There was an evil wizard, back in the day. They refer to him 'You Know Who,' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.' That boy in the shop, actually, is the reason he was defeated. 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' tried to kill him when he was a baby, but for some reason, the spell rebounded, and he destroyed himself instead."

"What's his name?" Beth asked curiously.

"Voldemort," Auntie Em said bluntly, and several wizards and witches in earshot turned and looked at her aghast.

"No, the boy," Beth said hurriedly, feeling the horrified looks of the people around them.

Auntie Em laughed. "Oh! Right. He's Harry Potter, and the whole of the wizarding world is a bit enamored with him, and rightly so. I'm sure you'll hear about him at school. You might even have some classes with him."

Beth hoped so. "Where are we going?" she asked, sensing that the conversation had come to an end and resolving to find out more about the wizarding war later.

"Well, would you like an owl or a cat? Or a toad, or a rat?" Auntie Em asked.

Beth pondered that for a moment. She had always wanted a cat, but that was before she had known that owls were an option.

"Cats are excellent companions, if standoffish sometimes," Auntie Em said, sensing her dilemma. "Owls, on the other hand, are good companions, too, but they can also be used to send letters. Eddie used to send me letters while he was off at school," she reminisced, a faraway look in her eyes.

"I want an owl," Beth said decidedly. If Uncle Eddie had had an owl, that had to be a good choice.

They emerged from Eeylops Owl Emporium fifteen minutes later with a tawny owl that had nipped Beth affectionately on sight. They spent the rest of the day navigating Diagon Alley to the place where Beth bought gently used robes and the store where she bought her books. At the end of the day, Auntie Em ducked into Gringotts, which she explained was the wizarding world's bank run by goblins, while Beth stayed in the lobby with her owl and the other purchases of the day. While she waited, she named her owl Phoebe, and Phoebe cocked her head and blinked her big eyes in pleasure. Auntie Em returned soon after, looking slightly harried, and the two hurried to the next train that would take them home. Beth left reluctantly, and she thought Auntie Em did, too. Soon, though, she would be at Hogwarts, she thought, and she smiled as she balanced Phoebe's cage on her lap and chattered to Auntie Em about all the things that they had seen that day in Diagon Alley.

* * *

 ***Note: The dialogue is JK's.**


	3. Just a Train Ride Away

After what felt like ages to Beth, September 1st finally arrived. She could hardly keep still on their way to King's Cross, although Auntie Em didn't seem bothered in the slightest. If anything, she was almost as enthusiastic as Beth.

"Platform 9 ¾, right?" Beth asked for the millionth time as they stepped inside the station, holding Phoebe's cage to her chest. 9 ¾ seemed like an odd number for a platform, but when she had asked Auntie Em if the British usually counted by fractions and if that was why she had to do them in math, Auntie Em had laughed and said that no, 9 ¾ was entirely a magical thing. It was her new favorite number, Beth had decided, although she was vaguely disappointed when Auntie Em told her that the number likely would not mark the platform, since Muggles were not supposed to know that the platform was there. She looked around carefully as they walked towards platform 9, just in case there were other magically numbered platforms that might be visible to non-Muggles.

"Yes, and here we are," Auntie Em answered, coming to a halt between platforms 9 and 10. "And we have got," she looked down at her watch, "about an hour to spare."

Beth stared at the wall intently. "I don't see it," she said, panic starting to rise in her chest. If she couldn't see it, maybe she wasn't a witch after all. Auntie Em had opened her mouth to respond when an older woman and a rather timid looking boy who looked to be around Beth's age brushed past them.

"Come now, Neville, you must not miss the train," the woman said rather severely.

"But Gran, it's not leaving for another hour!" the boy protested, struggling to keep hold of a curious frog attempting to escape his grasp.

"Better early than late," she said, and together they walked straight into the wall and vanished.

Beth's mouth fell open.

"There we go," Auntie Em said. She turned to Beth. "Are you ready?"

Beth hesitated, shrinking back. "I'm not sure," she admitted, her eyes glued to the seemingly solid wall in front of her. The boy and his grandmother had charged through it as though it were the most normal thing in the world, but she wasn't sure she could do the same.

"What if I can't do it?" she asked in a small voice.

Auntie Em looked startled. "Do what?"

"Go through the wall," Beth said, her voice nearly a whisper.

Her aunt smiled and wrapped an arm around Beth's shoulder. "Oh! Right. Well, Beth, think about it this way. Walking through a wall is the first of all the cool magical things you'll get to do, and you're not even at school yet."

Beth mustered a smile, but Auntie Em could see that she wasn't convinced.

"What is it, Beth?" she asked, more seriously this time.

Beth concentrated on her shoes, trying to put together all the worries in her head. After what felt like ages, Auntie Em broke the silence.

"This isn't like the fairies in Peter Pan, you know. You don't have to believe in the wall for it to let you through," Auntie Em said and hugged Beth to her side. "You don't have to run headlong into it, either. I'll be right next to you, don't worry."

At that, Beth brightened. She had been worried that the wall wouldn't let her through, and she still was, at least a little bit, but she had to admit that she was curious, too. Would her hand disappear when she touched the wall? How long would it take for them to go through? Together, she and Auntie Em took one step forward, and then another, and another, and before Beth could give in to her apprehension as the wall drew closer, she suddenly found herself on the other side.

"See? Nothing to it!"

The station was quite empty. The boy and his grandmother were nowhere in sight, but there were a few other families scattered around. Beth turned in a circle and wondered how long it would take for the station to fill. Phoebe clucked as her cage swung in Beth's hand.

"I suppose we probably didn't need to be this early," Auntie Em observed. "Thank goodness I got coffee. Let's plant ourselves on that bench over there and people-watch until it's time to board."

She took Beth's elbow gently and guided her to a bench against a pillar near the train as Beth looked around, wide-eyed.

"Do all train stations look like this?" Beth asked, setting Phoebe's cage on the bench next to her. She sat on the edge of her seat and took her hot chocolate as Auntie Em handed it to her. She blew on it before taking a sip.

Auntie Em shrugged. "More or less, at least until all the people get here. You should get a sweet from one of the trolleys if you see one."

Beth spent the next half hour looking for a sweets trolley as more and more people began to arrive. She found watching people emerge from the wall to be particularly interesting. Some crashed through as though they had run at a breakneck speed. Others appeared slowly, with first a hand pushing through the wall and the rest of the body following gradually. Beth suggested that these more cautious folk might be Muggles and Muggle-borns, too, and Auntie Em agreed that that was quite likely. Soon the train station was bustling with more witches and wizards than Beth could have imagined, but Auntie Em seemed oddly at home. The bench that they were sitting on shook as her leg bounced as it always did when she was excited, and for once Beth really wished that she would stop as her own anxiety grew. What if she didn't make any friends? She didn't know anyone, and she had never been any good at making friends at home. And what if she was horrible at magic? What if she didn't belong at Hogwarts?

But then she remembered Professor Sprout, and how kind she had been, and she felt slightly comforted. At least she would have one friendly face there.

"I think it's time for you to board," Auntie Em said when the crowd began to thin and the loudspeaker announced that the train was scheduled to leave in fifteen minutes. She nudged Beth with her shoulder. "Are you ready?"

Beth nodded with more resolution than she actually felt. As nervous as she was, she was going to have to brace herself for the year ahead if she wanted to be a witch, she thought. Auntie Em jumped to her feet and held her hand out so that Beth could hoist herself up, narrowly avoiding Phoebe's cage as it swung precariously in Beth's grip. Beth let go of her aunt's hand reluctantly to pick up her suitcase, and together they approached the train.


End file.
